Mathieu van der Poel faces a big decision tonight ahead of his defence of his Paris-Roubaix crown: will he race the Canyon Aeroad CFR, the trusty race bike that’s borne him to dozens of victories, or the new Canyon Endurace CFR?
He raced the Aeroad at the 2026 Tour of Flanders last week, having debuted the new Endurace at the E3 Saxo Classic, so is well placed to weigh up the benefits of both bikes.
That he reverted to the Aeroad at Flanders doesn't cement that as the only option for Paris-Roubaix, even if it’s supposedly a precious 1W faster than it’s new sibling.
He and his teammates have been spotted testing both options in the run-up to the race, and the demands of Roubaix are a far cry from Flanders – not to mention sponsor commitments.
So what will he race? Let’s analyse his options, with an option for you to vote below.
Tame the cobbles, or punish them?
It’s telling that van der Poel’s team wouldn’t allow us hands-on access to his bike, supposedly because they don’t yet know which bike he’d be riding.
A team representative stated that “Mathieu has the choice ahead of tomorrow,” suggesting the choice sat between Canyon’s entire range of race bikes still remains.
Immediately discounting the now-ageing and relatively un-aero Ultimate, neither the Aeroad or Endurace bike is without compromise.
According to Canyon, the Aeroad remains marginally more aerodynamically efficient than the new Endurace, but it can’t match the new Endurace’s 35mm tyre clearance.
This is important, given the trend towards wider tyres at Roubaix. The ferocity of the Queen of the Classics cobbles is unmatched, and has seen van der Poel’s key challenger, Tadej Pogačar go to extremes with a 35mm tyre up front on his Colnago Y1RS.
Van der Poel’s Aeroad can, officially, only accommodate 32mm-wide tyres while leaving the requisite 6mm clearance to the frame. Could that 1W loss in aero effiency be worth it for wider tyres?
A huge marketing win?
It’s also worth remember Canyon is intimately linked with the Dutch racer – van der Poel is an incredibly important marketing billboard for the company. Could the brand have some sway in his decision?
Naturally, a win on the brand new bike would be a marketing golden goal, but wouldn’t they also just settle for a win no matter the bike?
Muddying the waters is the fact that teammate Jasper Philipsen’s Endurace CFR race bike that we photographed has the same 32mm wide tyres fitted as his number two bike – a Canyon Aeroad.
This indicates that even Philipsen isn’t 100 per cent sure what the best option might be come race day, and might not feel extra-wide tyres are for him.
Also, we witnessed van der Poel returning from his final training ride on an Aeroad, running standard-for-Roubaix 32mm tyres. We then spotted a further backup Aeroad being worked on with the same tyres.
However, in a game of tech subterfuge, it’s not out of the question that van der Poel and his team could pull a shock on race day, starting him on the Endurace CFR (thereby giving him the option to switch during the race), or keep the Endurace CFR on standby for just before the toughest part of the race gets going.
We’ll be on the ground to confirm his choice on race day – but what do you think? Vote below!
